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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"Oh, for crying out loud, no! I had no intention of committing any crimes! ''...today.''"''|'''Mojo Jojo''', ''[[
In a series with a recurring [[Big Bad]], it is sometimes the case that a side-villain or [[Monster of the Week]] is introduced to cause havoc and shake things up.
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Of course, since this is a series with a recurring [[Big Bad]], our heroes may feel perfectly justified in going after the usual suspects. This trope refers to such scenes, in which our regular villain is forced to inform the protagonists that this installment's plot is not his or her doing. This may or may not be believed at first, but after the villain's innocence is established, expect him to curtly dismiss the heroes.
Traditional [[Truce Zone]] requirements mandate that regardless of all the crimes they committed ''yesterday'', if caught for the wrong thing today; the heroes have to let them go. Either that or the [[Big Bad]] is a [[Karma Houdini]] and/or got [[Off
This trope can be chalked up to [[The Law of Conservation of Detail]]: if you're going to have your villain appear, it might as well be relevant to the plot at hand.
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This trope may also occur with any character who has a recurring habit. May or may not lead to [[Evil Versus Evil]] or [[Enemy Mine]], depending on the story.
Also see [[Villains Out Shopping]], which might explain the villain's innocence. Compare [[Motive Misidentification]], where the [[Big Bad]] is responsible, but for different reasons than the heroes initially suspect. Contrast [[Hijacked
{{examples
* ''[[Pokémon (
▲== Anime & Manga ==
* When Tohma of ''[[
▲* ''[[Pokémon (Anime)|Pokémon]]'' has its share of villains that aren't Team Rocket, whether single-episode Pokemon menaces, thieves, the region's local villainous team, or [[My Name Is Not Durwood|Bill]] and Cassidy. As Jessie and James end up appearing in nearly every episode, they get more than their share of this trope.
▲* When Tohma of ''[[Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force (Manga)|Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force]]'' gets captured by the Huckebein, an infamous family of killers, he accuses them of being the culprits behind the [[Doomed Hometown|destruction of his hometown]]. Not so, says Fortis. He double-checked, and they're not behind that particular massacre. After all, [[Sole Survivor|Tohma survived]], and if they were the ones responsible, [[If I Wanted You Dead|they would have made sure to kill everyone.]]
* ''[[Keroro Gunsou]]'' has a rather sad example in one chapter. Keroro is expecting praise for doing a good job cleaning the house, but is instead met with furious accusations by Natsumi and Fuyuki of screwing with computer networks across the city, and has a nervous breakdown when they refuse to believe his pleas that he's not responsible. The real culprits turn out to be [[The Psycho Rangers|the Garuru Platoon]], as a prelude to taking over the invasion of Earth.
* Subverted in ''[[
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh (anime)|Yu-Gi-Oh]]'': During the DOMA arc, Seto Kaiba was quite willing to believe Amelda's story about his adoptive father Gozaburo engaging in war profiting; after all, he knew from personal experience what a snake the man was. However, while Gozaburo was indeed a conniving and scheming corporate shark, he was ''not'' responsible for what Amelda witnessed. The man he saw doing so was his soon-to-be-employer Dartz in disguise.
== Comic Books ==
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** This is actually remarkably [[Genre Savvy]] on Spidey's part, since being in prison or even dead has not stopped Osborn from wreaking all sorts of havoc in Peter's life before.
*** It makes Spidey [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]], {{spoiler|because [[Subverted Trope|he was right.]] Osborn was behind it all along.}}
** This happens to [[Spider-Man]] a LOT, apparently. During the Fallen Son arc mourning Captain America's death. While at the grave of Uncle Ben, Spidey sees Rhino walking through the cemetery. He attacks, thinking he's up to something (despite Rhino pleading that he isn't here to fight), and their fight breaks a gravestone belonging to Rhino's mother... which was the only reason he was there in the first place. When he realizes this, Spider-Man attempts to apologize, but Rhino is, understandably, far too angry to listen.
** In the Spider-Man spin off ''Jackpot'', the heroine, later accompanied by Spidey himself, beats up a minor villainess who was smuggling but really hadn't anything to do with what Jackpot wanted to know about. The snippy answer of the villainess was something around the lines of : "What? Do you think every villain in New York gets a daily update about every crime?!"
* [[Mickey Mouse]]:
** Similarly, there was a comic where a series of crimes is commited that seem to be the work of the Phantom Blot. Mickey goes to see him in jail, but the Blot tells him he's in jail and hasn't busted out, as the guards will testify, but he appreciates Mickey thinking of him.
** In another comic, Mickey and O'Hara are investigating some robberies when they run into the Blot walking down the street, prompting the latter to arrest him on the spot (with no evidence whatsoever). The Blot doesn't resist and firmly denies everything, which Mickey notices is not like him and thinks he may even be innocent. It turns out he did do it...however he's not actually the Phantom Blot but rather a magically summoned duplicate created by Magica DeSpell.
** With the Blot it seems to be a recurring theme. Due to him wearing disguises anyway, it is easy for various copycats to use his identity and general style for a while. There are several variations on how is this resolved. At least some having the genuine Blot being the one to take down the imitators.
* In one issue of ''[[Birds of Prey]]'', Black Canary's old mentor was murdered while she visited him in Hong Kong, even though he was terminally ill and would have died soon anyway. She quickly assumed that the supervillainess Cheshire committed the crime due to their history of animosity; the means of the crime, poison, also happened to be Cheshire's specialty. After Black Canary tracked Cheshire down, attacked and captured her, she found out that Cheshire did ''not'' do it; rather, it was the deed of a corrupt US senator who arranged the murder specifically so it would point to Cheshire. The two of ''them'' were enemies and he hoped Canary would deal with Cheshire for him. {{spoiler|[[Subverted Trope|However, they eventually discover that it really was Cheshire after all]]. She made it look like she was being framed so that Canary would help her get back to the US as part of a [[Xanatos Roulette]].}}
* A story in ''[[Gotham Central]]'' had someone killing teenagers dressed as Robin, but despite Batman's violent interrogations, none of the usual rogues turned out to have any involvement.
* The ''[[Astro City]]'' story "Adventures In Other Worlds" plays this to eleven. When Astra Furst of the First Family goes missing, they hunt down all of their usual super-villain enemies, convinced that one of them has captured her. Each villain's latest scheme gets disrupted, even though none of them are guilty of kidnapping Astra... who, instead, has run away from home to experience elementary school (and learn how to play hopscotch).
* In an issue of the ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'' spin-off comic, [[The Question]] sets out to discover who was responsible for a bomb smuggled into the Watchtower. Lex Luthor is the lead suspect, but when confronted Luthor points out that if the bomb had gone off as planned, the Justice League would never have known what hit
* ''[[Batman]]'':
** In the year-long [[Story Arc]] "Hush", after having seen his [[Old Friend|old childhood friend]] "Tommy" being supposedly gunned down by the Joker, Bruce is [[Unstoppable Rage|chasing after him in a murderous rage]]. A part of his mind is confused that the Joker is protesting his innocence (something he's [[Card
{{quote|
** "Joker: Devil's Advocate" is another example of this: the Joker was actually innocent of the crime of placing Joker venom on lickable stamps. Turns out it was a disgruntled member of the Post Office who did it to frame the Joker, who killed his wife.
** In a recent Batman issue, Batman pursues a recently escaped Joker because he thinks Joker was responsible for attacking and poisoning Commissioner Gordon's wife. After defeating him, however, and Batman tells him to stay away from the Gordons, Joker revealed that this time, he was completely innocent of attacking the Gordons. {{spoiler|It was actually James Gordon Jr. who did the deed}}.
* Non-villainous example in ''[[Asterix]] and the Magic Carpet''. [[New Powers
* In ''[[Star Wars Legacy]]'', the Yuuzhan Vong were accused of using the terraforming to devastate the already damaged planets ecosystems even further by causing deformities in the terraforming process, an accusation that stemmed from their role in the Yuuzhan Vong conflict long ago. The Yuuzhan Vong protested that they were in fact innocent and that they did not cause the deformities, at least not deliberately, to which the Jedi believed them. Turns out, they really were innocent: The One Sith sabotaged the terraforming project with the help of a Yuuzhan Vong plant of theirs who wanted revenge for their defeat.
* Just before the [[Our Worlds
{{quote|
'''Zod''' "...That wasn't mine."
'''Superman''' "I'm not falling for-"
'''Zod''' "No, listen, to me. That wasn't mine." (they stare at each other) "Perhaps this is best settled later?" }}
* In ''[[Curtis]]'', Greg and Diane Wilkins are in their bedroom for the night, only to hear a crash originating from Curtis and Barry's room. They naturally assume that they got into a fight again. However, the final panel has them screaming for help with multiple crashing sounds, revealing that this time, the crash was not from one of their fights.
** The next strip reveals the cause for the crash were hailstones the size of eggs or golfballs.
* In ''[[The Sandman]]'', Dream gets dumped by his most recent girlfriend. Afterwards, he goes to see his brother / sister Desire, who has a history of setting up and destroying any kind of relationship on a multi-universal scale. Desire bluntly tells him that "it" would love to take credit for Dream getting dumped, but "it" had nothing to do with the situation; this time it was all Dream's fault. Though to be fair, Dream was hardly without reason to suspect Desire; "it" had already ruined one of his relationships just for the sake of doing it (and at the cost of their friendship).
* In one of the children's book tie-ins of ''[[The Flash]]'', the Weather Wizard is released to a halfway house on the same day a tornado rips through the city; naturally, everyone assumes he did it, but the Flash uses his science skills to deduce that the tornado began before he could have regained access to his weather control wand. {{spoiler|In the end, it's suggested that--as per the comics--he no longer quite needs the wand.}}
* In ''[[Identity Crisis]]'', none of the supervillains had anything to do with Sue Dibny's death.
== Fan Works ==
* In ''[http://www.eyrie-productions.com/UF/FI/SOS/night-to-remember.txt A Night to Remember]'', a story from the ''Symphony of the Sword'' cycle of ''[[Undocumented Features]]'', the 2409 Koopman Memorial High School prom is interrupted by an attack by [[Giant Robo|Big Fire]]. [[The Powerpuff Girls|Mojo Jojo]], who was the prom's DJ ([[It Makes Sense in Context]], really), ducks out and shows up a few minutes later in a [[Humongous Mecha]]. Then...
{{quote|"NOT SO FAST, MOJO JOJO!"
Martin, Eiko, and several hundred others on both sides watched in bewilderment as Blossom, flanked on either side by Bubbles and Buttercup - all three still in their prom dresses - glared down at the Hestonian scientist through the dome of his robot as the dust of their first strike settled.
"All right, Mojo," Blossom spat testily, "we don't know what your scheme is THIS time, but - "
"I HAVE no scheme!" Mojo shouted back, his voice accompanied by a winceworthy screech of feedback from the Robo Jojo's PA system.
"Oh YEAH?" Buttercup asked, picking up the Robo Jojo's severed arm and waving it meaningfully. "Then how did you just HAPPEN to have one of your evil robots handy on our prom night, huh? Answer me THAT, Smart Guy!"
"I ... Well ... I ..." Mojo cast a spiteful glare off to one side, harrumphed mightily, and grumbled, "I was going to use it to attack you at your graduation."
"You remembered our graduation?" Bubbles smiled. "Aww, that's so -sweet- of you!"
"BUBBLES!!" Buttercup barked.
"Sorry," the blonde replied, looking downcast.
Mojo worked the controls on his robot to bring it back to its feet; with that accomplished, he could now rant more properly, which he proceeded to do. "Now my plans for tainting the greatest moment of your scholastic careers with a crushing defeat at my own hands have been rendered totally unworkable and are completely RUINED! Thanks to these inCOMpetent, moRONic, CRETinous - "
"Blackballing," Martin volunteered.
" - (yes, thank you) BLACKballing Big Fire henchmen, your graduation shall now be too securely protected for even ME to launch my scheme with even a remote hope for success! I cannot allow such an affront to my carefully laid plans which I have planned so very carefully to go UNCHALLENGED!"
Blossom regarded her longtime adversary with a dumbfounded, quizzical look, and finally asked, "So ... you're -not- attacking the school?"
"NO, I'M NOT ATTACKING THE SCHOOL!!" Mojo roared.}}
== Film ==
* ''La Folie Des Grandeurs'', "Non Sire! Pour une fois c'était pas moi!" Translation: "No, sire! For once it wasn't me!"
* Spoken word for word by John Spartan in ''[[
* In the fourth ''[[
* In ''[[Apollo 13]]'', Fred Haise has been using the cabin repress valve, which causes a sharp banging sound, to mess with the other astronauts. When the oxygen tank explodes and the entire ship starts shaking, he rushes in saying, "That's no repress valve!"
* In ''[[
* A non-villainous version was featured in ''[[Spice World]]'', where the women had to use the restroom but are forced to go in the woodlands because of the broken toilet on board their bus. Yet, it leads to this exchange, implying Mel B's antics.
{{Quote|
'''Mel B''': Something just pushed past me, and I'm not joking!
'''Geri''': Probably one of those disgusting beasts want to eat you.
'''Emma''': [frightened] Ugh!
''A sound is heard, being mistaken for a fart''.
'''Melanie C''': Oh pack it in, Mel!
'''Mel B''': It wasn't me!
}}
== Literature ==
* In ''[[
* In the second [[Goosebumps|Night of the Living Dummy]] book, the heroine, her sister, and her parents enter the sister's room to find that all her bedroom walls have been graffiti'd. The mother yells at the youngest brother, a notorious prankster, but he stops her by saying that ''this'' time he's innocent, and that [[Even Evil Has Standards|this is messed-up even for him.]] Of course it turns out that Slappy did it, but who'd believe ''that?''
* [[Harry Potter]]:
** Harry and Ron use Polyjuice potion ''[[Harry Potter and
** Similarly, in the film version of ''[[Harry Potter and
** In ''[[Harry Potter and
* Fainne says this exact line in ''Child of the Prophecy'', by Juliet Mariller. It's really {{spoiler|her grandmother who happens to have similar powers and much more motive...}}
* [[Destructive Savior|Hero version]]: ''"[[The Dresden Files|The building was on fire, and it wasn't my fault]]."''
* Simon Heap in ''[[Septimus Heap
== Live
* ''[[
** John is thrown into what looks very much like Earth, and immediately suspects Scorpius of messing with his head. However, when he finds Scorpius in the simulacrum, he protests that he's not the one doing it this time.
** Happens a whole bunch in season 4 when Scorpius joins our heroes on ''Moya'' and then again in "The Peacekeeper Wars." To be fair, John has good reason not to trust Scorpius after everything he's put him through.
* ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'':
** In the
* Not a recurring [[Big Bad]], but in one episode of ''[[Columbo (TV)|Columbo]]'' the killers try to make it look like a repeat offender did their murder. Columbo doesn't seem convinced but pays a visit to that offender to be sure.▼
** The episode "Timescape" has a variation of this. Picard, Troi, Data, and La Forge are returning from a conference and encounter the ''Enterprise'' and a Romulan vessel, both frozen in a temporal field. At first, it looks very much like the two ships are fighting and the Romulans have both attacked and boarded the Enterprise, a suspicion that is only strengthened when they investigate the inside of the ship and find that Riker is unconscious, and worse, Dr. Crusher has been shot at close-range by a Romulan soldier (the temporal freezing the only reason she likely survives). {{quote|Eventually, after a way to reverse the temporal freezing is discovered, the more complicated truth emerges: The ''Enterprise'' was responding to a distress call from the Romulan vessel and helping them evacuate the ship, the true culprits in the case being shapeshifting aliens posing as Romulans. The soldier had tried to fire on one of the imposters; Crusher had simply gotten in the way.}}
{{quote| '''Offender:''' Who are you?<br />▼
▲* Not a recurring [[Big Bad]], but in one episode of ''[[
'''Columbo:''' Lieutenant Columbo. Homicide.<br />▼
'''Offender:''' Homicide... no, I haven't done one of those recently. }}
* Japanese [[Police Procedural]] ''Kochira Hon-Ikegamisho'' had a number of reformed criminal characters who would often be questioned following crimes that resembled their earlier ones.
* In one episode of [[NCIS]], Tony is framed for a crime. One of the first people he suspects is Ziva.
{{quote|
'''Tony''': * Looks at her*
'''Ziva''': Alright, I could. '''But''' I didn't. }}
* Happens in quite a few episodes of ''[[
* In ''[[Monk]]'', Dale "The Whale" Biederbeck III is suspected of arranging for a death row inmate to be killed before execution because he hadn't paid off a debt. However, both Monk and Dale the Whale know Dale was innocent that time around, and in fact, [[Even Evil Has Standards|even he wouldn't stoop as low as to kill someone/arrange for someone to be killed for not paying their debts, especially if the sum in question was in the low thousand dollar range]]. It was actually the prison librarian, and the death row inmate wasn't even the real target, but an ailing billionaire (as the man in question was dying from kidney failure and was also in the middle of a libel suit against her son who wrote a book on him). The only reason she had to kill the death row inmate is because he held the ultra-rare blood type needed to save the billionaire in question, and used poisons to destroy the organs.
* In ''[[The Mentalist]]'', a serial abductor/killer, known as the balloon killer, was suspected of kidnapping a child. However, after shooting him, he implies (and Jane confirms via phone and a note) that this time, he's innocent.
* In the [[
{{quote|
'''Crow:''' (as suspect) "Crossbow killing...but I had nothing to do with ''this'' one!" }}
* On one episode of ''Dracula: The Series'', [[Dracula|the title vampire]] encounters the heroes in a crypt when the casket opens. A minor character climbs out and reveals that he was turned into a vampire. Dracula replies "Don't look at me. He's not my type."
* The ''[[NCIS: Los Angeles]]'' episode "Exit Strategy" had the NCIS team thinking that the Sudanese dictator Khaled was responsible for the attempted assassination of Jada, his sister who had defected to America in his previous appearance, as he had the strong motive of keeping her silent in regards to his abuse of human rights in the region. However, when they contact him, he denies the attempt on his sister's life, citing that even he would not harm family, although the NCIS doesn't buy it. Turns out, the actual party responsible for the attempted assassination (or at least the one most directly responsible) was the CEO of an international French company that was also involved in Khaled's dictatorship, as Jada's exposure of Khaled's human rights abuses would also result in an investigation on their company and result in a tribunal against them, with France as a country also potentially getting into deep trouble.
* In the ''[[Smallville]]'' episode "Pariah", people start getting viciously assaulted from behind in locked rooms and other enclosed spaces. Everyone accuses Alicia Baker, as she can teleport and is a previously established psycho. Alicia protests that she has been cured of her insanity and was with her husband, Clark Kent, the whole time. {{spoiler|Eventually, Alicia gets assaulted and killed by the real culprit, Tim Westcott, a man with [[Super Strength]] and the ability to transform into living sand, which was how he entered those locked rooms. When Clark found out, he [[Unstoppable Rage|wasn't happy...]]}}
== Professional Wrestling ==
* In ''[[WWE Smackdown]]'':
** A storyline in 2010 involved [[
** An early storyline in 2011 had Smackdown General Manager Teddy Long getting taken out. Since [[Wade Barrett]] had just formed [[The Corre]] on that episode, had done something similar to the [[Bret Hart|previous]] [[WWE Raw|Raw]] GM during his time as [[The Nexus]] leader, and Teddy had just [[Tempting Fate|tempted fate]] by telling them that he would not allow himself to be cowed by their beatdown antics like the current Raw GM was, they were naturally the first suspects. However, they denied having anything to do with it. It eventually turns out that {{spoiler|they were telling the truth. It was [[Tyrant Takes the Helm|Vickie Guerrerro]] [[Unholy Matrimony|and]] [[Dolph Ziggler]] that did it.}}
== Video Games ==
* ''[[
** Peach is kidnapped at the beginning. Immediately, Mario and Luigi go to Bowser's castle to rescue her. However, it turns out that Bowser was in the middle of a rallying speech in preparation for invading Peach's castle and did not actually do anything yet.
** In [[Paper Mario:
* In the opening FMV of the Nintendo64 version of ''[[Mario Tennis]]'', when Bowser arrives at the court, the other participants are understandably worried when he arrives, as they think he's planning to attack the tennis arena. However, instead, Bowser just challenges Mario to the tournament in a friendly fashion when he actually approaches Mario.
* Inverted in ''[[Castlevania]]: Portrait of Ruin''. When the main characters run into Death, they are already aware that the castle is being run by a vampire who isn't Dracula. Thus, while they accuse him of working with the new villain, ''Death'' is the one surprised to discover that his master isn't around.
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** The worst example of this was in Kirby Squeak Squad. Kirby's cake was stolen at the beginning of the game by the eponymous gang of thieving mice, and Kirby immediately comes to conclusion that Dedede is responsible with no evidence.
** Super Smash Bros. Brawl is another case of this. The villains are all running around turning heroes into trophies. Dedede captures several, and keeps them in his castle, placing badges on them. He runs out of badges, and reluctantly takes his own off to attach it to the final hero trophy. After the real villain, Tabuu, uses his ability to turn every single character into a trophy, the purpose of the badges is revealed: they restore a trophy to life after a time delay.
* Dr. Wily claims this in ''[[
** He does it again in ''[[
* Happens in the Multiplayer ''[[
* Sephiroth laughs at your party in [[Final Fantasy VII]] when you get attacked by a dragon in the temple of the ancients and think that he is responsible for it.
* In ''[[Star Fox (
* In ''[[Avernum]]'' ''3'', your party is trying to figure out who created the plagues of monster that are attacking [[The Empire]]. You can question the dragons, the Vahnatai, and the sorceress Erika, all of whom have grudges against the Empire and the means to create the monsters, but they all insist that while they hate the Empire with a passion, they have nothing to do with this. {{spoiler|The vahnatai are lying}}.
* In ''[[Futurama]]: The Game'', Bender says this when they find the ship badly damaged. It turns out that {{spoiler|[[Stable Time Loop|he (as well as Fry and Leela) ''did'' do it]].}}
* In the last episode of the third season of ''[[The Adventures of Sam
* In ''[[Sly Cooper]] 2'', Carmelita believes that Sly is responsible for the theft of the Klockwerk parts. While Sly had been planning to steal them, the Klaww Gang stole them first.
{{quote|
* In [[
* [[Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One]] starts with Dr. Nefarious siccing a huge monster onto Ratchet, Clank, and Captain Qwark. After the monster is beaten, a massive spaceship appears in the sky, and as the four are staring up in wonder, Nefarious remarks, "That's not one of mine." just before they get abducted.
== Web Comics ==
* ''[[
** [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20170210 Martellus] in Paris.
* In ''[[El Goonish Shive (Webcomic)|El Goonish Shive]]'' [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2002-03-15 Sarah] and [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2002-03-16 Elliot] used to blame Tedd when someone is shapeshifted or [http://egscomics.com/?date=2003-05-07 appears to be]. Not without a reason.▼
** Curiously enough, [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20180115 Miss Thorpe] (minor spoiler).
* In ''Heroes-Inc.'', the first mission the titular agency partakes in is rescuing [[Super Mario Bros|Princess Peach]]. They immediately consider Bowser as a prime subject, but quickly rule him out because of his [http://www.heroes-comic.com/?p=137 "air-tight alibi"]. {{spoiler|They later find out that Peach actually is in Bowser's castle, but it is a robot. The actual [[Big Bad]] planted the robot in the castle so that when the heroes rescued it, it would easily be in a position to assassinate Mario.}}▼
** Inverted: the incumbent Heterodyne, her retinue in general and Jägermonsters in particular are the ''least'' likely suspects (in a murder case). [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20180618 It's the first time] in Dimo's long life anyone said this.
* ''[[Evil Diva (Webcomic)|Evil Diva]]''. [http://www.evildivacomics.com/?p=885 For once, Loki didn't pull the prank]▼
▲* In ''[[
▲* In ''Heroes-Inc.'', the first mission the titular agency partakes in is rescuing [[Super Mario Bros.|Princess Peach]]. They immediately consider Bowser as a prime subject, but quickly rule him out because of his [http://www.heroes-comic.com/?p=137 "air-tight alibi"]. {{spoiler|They later find out that Peach actually is in Bowser's castle, but it is a robot. The actual [[Big Bad]] planted the robot in the castle so that when the heroes rescued it, it would easily be in a position to assassinate Mario.}}
▲* ''[[Evil Diva (
* In ''[[Homestuck]]'', Terezi automatically pins the murders of {{spoiler|Feferi and Kanaya}} on Vriska, although even she admits this doesn't make much sense and is largely due to her own [[Foe Yay|fixation]] on her. When she confronts Vriska, the latter is adamant that she is only guilty of {{spoiler|Tavros's}} death.
* In ''[[Order of the Stick]]'', [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0821.html Tarquin and Nale accuse each other of killing Tarquin's wife Penelope], and it becomes clear that neither of them was responsible. This becomes a [[Chekhov's Gun]] for the later reveal that it was caused, indirectly, by {{spoiler|Vaarsuvius}}.
== Web Original ==
* ''[[There Will Be Brawl]]'':
** Who's the butcher and/or Peach's kidnapper? [[Genre Savvy|Bowser?]] [[Hijacked
** {{spoiler|Played with in that it ''was'' Ganondorf, using the butcher''s'', as well as Olimar and others. Ganondorf was then hijacked by the biggest evil in the series, ''Kirby''.}}
* The [[That Guy With
** {{spoiler|It was [[You Can Play This|JewWario]], he accidentally left the disc there after borrowing [[Y: Ruler of Time]]'s [[Avatar: The Last Airbender]] DVD.}}
* The ''[[Downfall (
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[The Simpsons (
** Happens in episode "Lisa the Vegetarian," when it was Lisa who did something bad for a change:
{{quote|
'''Bart:''' (Standing beside her) "What?"
'''Marge:''' "Sorry, force of habit. Lisa, [[Big No|nooooo!]]" }}
{{quote|
'''Cecil:''' [[Genre Savvy|Tell them they'll live to regret this]].
'''Bob:''' ''You'll all live to regret this!'' [[Sarcasm Mode|Oh, thanks a lot, now]] ''[[Sarcasm Mode|I]]'' [[Sarcasm Mode|look crazy]]! }}
* In the ''[[
{{quote|
'''Kani''': "Yeah, right."
'''Tako''': "We're on to you, Unagi. ''Your plan''."
'''Unagi''': "Um, what plan was that?"
'''Ikura''': "Your plan to distract everyone by turning up the volume on their car radios while you take over all the vacuum cleaners in Wharf City."
'''Unagi''': "Hm... Not bad. But that isn't my plan. I don't have a plan. I wish I had a plan!" }}
* ''[[
** In the episode which provides the page quote, the girls are pranked into believing the series regular villains are doing something evil and confront
** In another episode, a hit to the head makes Bubbles believe she is Mojo Jojo, stealing his clothes to match. The other girls instantly assume the latter is responsible, which leads to the priceless line:
{{quote|
* In ''[[Where
* ''[[
** It plays with this one: When their Rusty and Brock get kidnapped (along with Baron Underbheit and Pete White), the titular characters immediately call the Monarch (more or less the [[Big Bad]]) to demand their release. He responds that it wasn't him this time, but "I have something planned for next week."
** When Brock wakes up and finds himself chained in a dungeon with the other three, he immediately accuses Underbheit of being responsible, leading to this [[Crowning Moment of Funny|priceless response]]:
{{quote|
* ''[[
** David Xanatos was behind so much of the troubles, that they assumed he was responsible for Goliath and Elisa's disappearance. Brooklyn opposed confronting him on it, as it would only tip him off. It did.
{{quote|
'''Xanatos:''' I'm afraid I haven't seen her.
'''Broadway:''' Yeah right. Just like you haven't seen Goliath and Bronx.
'''Xanatos:''' ''(grinning devilishly)'' Hm. ''Now'', we're getting somewhere.
'''Brooklyn:''' ''(Groans)''
later
'''Xanatos:''' ''(still grinning)'' Goliath? Missing?
'''Owen:''' ''(also grinning)''. An intriguing development, sir.
'''Brooklyn:''' [[Sarcasm Mode|Perfect]]. }}
* Inverted in one episode of ''[[A Pup Named Scooby
* ''[[
** When she finds out that her [[Arch Enemy]] Dr. Drakken has been broken out of prison by a woman with "green energy blasts", she naturally drops in on his [[Sidekick]] Shego, only to find out later that it was actually an alien who did it.
{{quote|
'''Ron:''' So, it ''wasn't'' you that busted out Drakken?
'''Shego:''' Who do you think I'm vacationing ''from?'' }}
* At the beginning of an episode of ''[[
* One episode of ''[[
* In the ''[[
{{quote|
'''GIR:''' I know. I'm scared too! }}
* ''[[
* ''[[
{{quote|
'''Sonic:''' And why should I believe you?
'''Robotnik:''' Use your spiky head! If I'd had captured your companion, I'd be torturing him right now. }}
* In ''[[Spider
* On ''[[
* In ''[[Arthur (
* Hero example: in the ''[[Fantastic Four:
* In an episode of ''[[
* ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'':
** In
** In "Second Chance", Two-Face is kidnapped from the hospital before an operation to heal his scars (and hopefully restore Harvey Dent completely) can be done. At first, there are two suspects, Rupert Thorne (whose enmity with Two-Face goes back a long time) and the Penguin (who Two-Face had recently come to blows with) but both criminals give pretty convincing arguments for having nothing to do with it. {{spoiler| As it turned out, Two-Face himself, or rather his evil personality, engineered his own kidnapping; as Batman tells him, "You're your own worst enemy, Harvey..."}}
** In "Make 'Em Laugh", Batman and Robin discover the Mad Hatter's mind-control chips on people who inexplicably became ludicrous supervillains. However, the Hatter is still in Arkham, and seems to be a victim of his own device. The true culprit is the Joker, who swiped them to exact revenge for being snubbed at a comedy competition.
* [[Recess|Randall]] also had this trope invoked on him twice: The first time, most of the secrets that TJ and the others held were exposed to the teachers and staff, to which they ended up busted. They initially think Randall was behind their being ratted out, but Randall (who was in the garbage can to listen in) insisted that he did not. A chase to the bathroom later, and they end up discovering that Randall really wasn't behind their being ratted out that time: It was the so-called "cool kid" Stone who joined up with their possie who was in fact an undercover department of education individual who disguised himself as a student so Superintendent Skinner could find out the going abouts by the school who did it. The second time was when Randall hired the Ashley's younger brothers to act as proxies for him for his snitching job due to his getting cold at his sleuthing skills. One day, a lot more kids were put in The Box, including King Bob, whom he blamed Randall for it. However, Randall mentioned that reporting higher authority figures was a low even he wouldn't go as low as, and immediately told off the Ashley's brothers for it, and attempted to put a stop to it, although they were one step ahead of him and reported him for it as well.
* The ''[[Family Guy]]'' episode "Killer Queen" starts with Peter and Chris going to a "fat farm" after Chris gets sick by winning an [[Eating Contest]], which turns lethal after two campers are murdered. Peter suspects Patrick (from "The Fat Guy Strangler") is the culprit, seeing as Patrick is a [[Serial Killer]] who targets fat guys, and who has just that day been released from a psychiatric hospital. But Patrick has a pretty solid alibi, having still been in the facility when the first victim's body was found. {{spoiler|The true culprit is Charles Yamamoto, the now-''former'' champion hot dog eater, seeking revenge against Chris for defeating him.}}
* ''[[Superman: The Animated Series]]'':
** In the episode "Knight Time", Batman has gone missing and Robin tells Superman that Bruce left a phone call only saying he was away on business. Nightwing and Batgirl traced the call to Romania and, assuming Ra's Al Ghul kidnapped him, went there to save him. Supes and Robin later discover that Bruce has fallen victim to [[Mind Control]], so again, the primary suspect is the Mad Hatter. However, it's not him. Further, when examining the evidence for himself, the Hatter confesses that the technology used on Bruce is way too advanced to be of his own making and suggests an alien source, {{spoiler| and sure enough it belonged to Brainiac.}}
** "Target", Lois suspects that Lex Luthor is trying to kill her after a series of near-death experience, especially in the light of her writing an expose on LexCorp, and that one of the devices found in her car was made at Lex's company. However, Lex denies any wrongdoing and even promises to investigate how the device got there in the first place. Sure enough, he was telling the truth. The person who tried to kill her was an ex-employee of Luthor who acted as a informant on the article, and he took the device from the company shortly before Lex fired him.
** The Sequel Episode "Solar Power" has the aforementioned ex-employee become the supervillain Luminous, who blocks off the sun's yellow rays to cripple Superman. Again, Lois is quick to suspect that he's doing this on Lex Luthor's orders, but Lex is equally quick to defend himself:
{{quote|'''Lois:''' Come on, Lex! Those are your satellites up there, and Lightner’s worked for you before! How do you expect me to believe you have nothing to do with it?
'''Luthor:''' What you believe makes little difference to me. The fact is, I did provide Lightner resources while behind bars, but only for legitimate LexCorp research. I had no idea he’d escape, and I certainly didn’t tell him to hijack my satellites for his own revenge.
'''Lois:''' Heck, why not? You’d love to see Superman dead.
'''Luthor:''' Oh, please, Lois, forget that I’m losing millions in communications revenues, do you really think I’d jeopardize the welfare of the planet just to settle my personal grudge with Superman?}}
== [[Theme Park]] ==
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[[Category:Villains]]
[[Category:Not Me This Time]]
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